History

Tomorrow at the Australian Cyclist of the Year Awards in Melbourne, Cycling Australia will announce its Tour de France Team of the Century to celebrate 100 years of Australian riders taking part in the world’s biggest bike race. We asked CyclingTips’ historian, Associate Professor Craig Fry who would be in his Team of the Century […]

This Saturday, March 1, the Darebin International Sports Centre in Melbourne will play host to the 116th edition of the Austral Wheel Race. It is regarded by many as Australia’s greatest track cycling event, and is the world’s oldest track race. To get you ready for the 2014 Austral, Craig Fry delves into the archives […]

With the 2014 edition of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour now underway, CyclingTips’ resident historian Craig Fry takes a look back at Australia’s oldest stage race, speaking with two Sun Tour legends – Barry Waddell (five-time winner) and John Trevorrow (three-time winner and current race director) – to get their expert views and memories about […]

In the early hours of Saturday December 7 2013, 12 riders set out from the Melbourne Cricket Ground to re-trace the original Broadmeadows course of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics road race. Organised by Brad Priest and Paul Munro of the Road Race Project, the ride marked the 57th anniversary of the Olympic race. Craig Fry […]

Jim Fitzpatrick is widely regarded as one of Australia’s foremost cycling historians and now the US-born writer has revealed his latest book, Wheeling Matilda: The Story of Australian Cycling. In this post Craig Fry reviews Wheeling Matilda and shares some of his favourite moments.

The 53rd Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic will run this Saturday October 26 as the final race in the men’s National Road Series. This 228km ‘Mountain Classic’ held in northern New South Wales is considered one of the toughest races on the Australian road race calendar. Craig Fry delves into the race history, and highlights […]

The Goulburn to Sydney Cycling Classic, one of Australia’s oldest road races, was supposed to be running this weekend but has been cancelled due to safety concerns. Today Craig Fry takes a look at the history of this great race and ponders the question: have we seen the last of the Goulburn to Sydney?

As you prepare to cheer on the Australian cyclists in the 100th edition of the Tour de France, spare a thought for the pioneers who went before them, including John Beasley. John is Australia’s oldest living Tour de France rider and this is his story.

I came across this excellent illustration this morning which categorises a selection of noteworthy cyclists throughout the history of the sport. Professionals, amateurs, heroes, cheats, hardmen…many of them are here.